WASHINGTON – Just hours into his second term, President Donald Trump signed some of his first executive orders as an arena crowd of thousands cheered the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and mandate for federal workers to return to the office full time.
Trump affixed his signature to nearly 10 documents bound in a folder at a desk on the floor of Capital One Arena in downtown Washington after the inaugural parade in the 20,000-seat venue. Monday’s ceremonies were moved indoors due to low temperatures.
The orders included repeal 78 Biden administration actions, federal hiring freeze and modern ones statuteAnd “restoring freedom of speech”, among others others which the White House press office called “America’s first priorities“
“Can you imagine Biden doing that? I don’t think so,” Trump told the crowd.
After signing the orders, Trump threw his ceremonial feathers into the seats.
Shortly thereafter, during a ceremony in the Oval Office, Trump signed a host of other orders, including: declaring The state of emergency at the southern border gives TikTok a 75-day lifeline to find a modern owner.
Earlier Monday, surrounded by lawmakers from both parties who bantered with him in the Presidential Chamber on Capitol Hill, Trump signed order requiring that all U.S. flags be flown at full height at future presidential inaugurations. Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, ordered flags at full staff for Trump’s inauguration despite the recent death of the overdue President Jimmy Carter.
First attack
In his first attack, Trump removed Biden’s executive orders on “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation” and “Expanding Equality for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender, Queer and Intersex People.”
Hours before the inauguration, Trump’s team signaled that the modern president planned to sign an executive order requiring the exploit of the word “sex” instead of “gender” in federal policy language and documents, including passports and visas.
White House administration officials said in a telephone call with reporters that he was one of the first White House directors ordination will focus on “defending women against gender extremism and restoring biological truth to the federal government.”
There are about 2 million transgender people in the United States, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group that condemned Trump’s executive order Monday.
Kelley Robinson, the organization’s president, criticized Trump in a statement for “targeting the LGBTQ+ community instead of uniting our country and prioritizing the pressing issues facing the American people.”
Among dozens of previous Biden administration executive orders, Trump rescinded Biden’s actions titled “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring the Science to Confront the Climate Crisis” and “Reinvigorating Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All.”
Environmental advocates condemned Trump’s executive orders. The Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement that Trump’s order to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement “shows how threatened Trump is by the recent global agreement to transition away from fossil fuels.”
“While Trump has his head in the sand, it will be up to state leaders to focus attention on the climate crisis and lead us toward a livable future,” the statement said.
White House officials also teased orders to roll back Biden-era environmental initiatives, including declaring an energy emergency, opening Alaska’s deserts to energy development and ending energy standards for home appliances. As of Monday evening, they had not yet been released.
TikTok
Later Monday evening in the Oval Office, Trump signed the agreement order giving TikTok an additional 75 days to find a modern owner. The order directs the Justice Department to ignore enforcement of a federal law that required TikTok to separate from its ties to China by January 19.
“The unfortunate timing of (the bill’s) passage — one day before he takes office as the 47th President of the United States — makes it difficult for me to evaluate the national security and foreign policy implications of the bill’s prohibitions before they go into effect,” Trump’s executive order stated.
The popular video-sharing app, used by about 170 million Americans, briefly went down overnight Saturday into Sunday. The message to users read: “We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office. Stay up to date!”
Federal law ordered that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, will abandon the video-sharing platform ahead of the deadline that made it illegal for U.S. companies to distribute or host the app. Companies that do not comply with these rules face fines of $5,000 per user.
Trump’s stance is a reversal of his support for the ban in 2020.
“I think I have an affinity for TikTok that I didn’t initially have,” he told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday evening.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was among those attending Trump’s inauguration, and the company sponsored a Christmas Eve party in downtown DC, Reuters reported.
Some lawmakers want the law enforced now. In a statement Sunday, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska warned that companies that ignore the deadline face “ruinous bankruptcy.”
“Now that the act has entered into force, there is no legal basis for any ‘extension’ of its entry into force date,” they wrote.
A long campaign of promises
Trump he said to a packed arena in Washington on the eve of the inauguration that “you’re going to see executive orders that will make you extremely happy, lots of them.”
Trump said he would “act with historic speed and strength and fix every crisis our country faces.”
As a candidate and Republican presidential nominee, Trump promised his supporters that from day one he would run for… mass deportations immigrants, end Russia’s war with Ukraine and pardon those convicted of crimes committed during the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
During one of his last actions in office, Biden released a precautionary pardon for lawmakers and staff who served on the select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, as well as police officers who testified before the panel.
Last updated at 20:57, January 20, 2025
